• USA Today , Friday, July 18, 2008 10 AM

Stand-up paddling -- a variation of surfing in which you stand on a board and propel with a paddle -- is taking beaches by storm, largely due to its endorsement by 44-year-old Laird Hamilton, who is revered as a god among surfers, The sport stands to change ocean recreation, much as snowboards changed the ski slopes.

Hamilton's championing of stand-up paddling is at the heart of his push to build a business around his name. Hamilton is tying his chiseled image to companies and products that produce the tools that make his oceanic escapades possible.

Four years ago, Hamilton teamed with Surftech, one of the world's largest makers of surfboards, to design a stand-up board for him. This year he joined the board of directors of H2O Audio, which makes products that waterproof digital audio players, such as iPods. He's done motivational speeches for companies and is releasing a fitness manual, Force of Nature: Laird Hamilton's Handbook for Peak Living, in November. But there may be one wipe-out in the making: Laird launched a clothing line this spring called Wonderwall. It's sold at retailer Steve & Barry's, whose future is murky after it filed for bankruptcy protection last week.

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